Not Yet Found
by Starlight623
Summary: The prequel to "Lost and Found" Leonard is trying to contact Sara after the Oculus explosion. This is how we got to the beginning of my story "Lost and Found" (and season 2, episode 8).


It has been a week since the Oculus exploded and the Waverider crew has been exceptionally quiet, deeply feeling the loss.

Sara is in the weapons room, taking out her aggressions on a training session. Her staff flies through the air, making a whistling sound. But then she hears it.

"Sara…"

She stills for a moment to see who's calling her, but sees no one. Suddenly she's on high alert, but continues to train. It's possible she just heard the wind of her work out.

"Sara…"

Now she knows she's heard it.

"Who's there?" she calls. "Answer me!"

The door to the weapons room opens and Mick Rory finds her staff at his throat.

"What the hell, Blondie?" he growls.

She lowers the weapon and sighs. "Mick, were you calling me?"

"Nope. I just came in here to get some stuff to tune up the heat gun. Feelin' jumpy today?"

She shakes her head. "No… maybe. I guess I'm just tired. I've been having weird dreams."

She doesn't want to tell him she's been dreaming of Leonard.

Mick shrugs his shoulders. "You should take a nap. Seems like you could use it." He takes the tools he was looking for and turns to leave. But then turns back to her. "Take care of yourself, Sara," he adds. "Snart wouldn't want you to live like this."

Before she can question what that means, Mick leaves in a hurry.

"A nap," she says to no one. "Maybe a nap could be good."

Sara carefully puts away her weapons and heads to her cabin.

"Sara…"

Suddenly she recognizes the voice and begins to feel she's gone crazy. She's hearing Leonard but that's not possible… right?

She runs to her room and slams and locks the door.

"Leonard?" she quietly asks.

No response.

"I must really need that nap."

But then, "Sara…"

"Leonard? Are you there? Somewhere?"

"Sara, I'm… You've got… Help…"

"Help you? I can't even see you!"

Silence.

"Gideon!" Sara calls. "What am I hearing?"

"I'm not certain, Miss Lance. It appears that you are hearing the voice of Mr. Snart."

"Yes! It appears that way, but it's not possible… is it?"

"Perhaps the explosion did not kill Mr. Snart, but instead sent him into the time stream. Shall I look for him?"

"Yes, Gideon!" Sara replies through gritted teeth, irritated that the AI should even ask.

There is more quiet for a few minutes and then Gideon returns.

"I have picked up a very faint signal that seems to be Leonard Snart."

"Can you help him to speak to me?" Sara desperately asks.

"I can try to amplify the signal, yes. Mr. Snart, please try to communicate with Miss Lance again."

"Sara? Sara, are you there?"

"Leonard?" she calls, spinning around in hopes of finding him. "Oh my God, where are you?"

"I have no idea. It's nothing I've ever seen."

"Gideon thinks you're in the time stream. How can we get you back?"

"Assassin, that's way above my paygrade."

"Gideon?" Sara questions.

"I cannot currently locate Mr. Snart. I can magnify the signal he is sending, but it seems to keep moving."

"Can you please keep trying?"

"Of course, Miss Lance."

"Leonard, are you ok?"

"Well, I think ok is a bit of a stretch, but I also feel like I'm not dead. So it's a start."

"I want to see you," she whispers.

"Sometimes I can see you. It's always just flashes, though."

Sara is quiet. There's not much to say at this point. And everything she wants to say won't help anyway.

"Mr. Snart's signal is fading again," Gideon reports.

"Hang on, Leonard! We're going to find you!" Sara says.

"If anyone can, it's you, assassin. Keep try–"

And he's gone again.

Sara collapses onto her bed and feels the tears beginning to fall. She doesn't know if she's more relieved that he's alive, or more worried that she could lose him again.

Two days later, Sara walks into her bunk and sees Leonard standing there. Her League training keeps her from screaming, but she does run towards him.

He holds out a hand. "Hold on there, Canary"

She stops just short of him and realizes that he's not physically there.

"What the hell?"

"Gideon was able to make me visible, but trust me, I'm definitely not here."

She reaches out to touch his face, and he tries to lean into her, but Sara's fingers disappear through him.

"That's just not fair," she whispers.

"It's not, but I can see you now. I'll take what I can get."

She nods. "How long will you be able to stay?"

He shrugs. "No idea. But I'll stay as long as I can."

"I should get Ray or someone."

"No, don't do that."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because Gideon can just get me back."

"Gideon?" Sara questions.

"I'm not as certain as you are, Mr. Snart," Gideon replies. "Finding the signal you are sending out and finding your person are two different things and the time stream could not be more vast."

Sara gestures to the ceiling. "See?"

"Just give it some time, all right, assassin? It's been challenging enough being here. I don't think I could deal with knowing they can't bring me back. Let me have some hope for a while."

"That's stupid, you know that, right?"

"Guilty as charged, perhaps." Pause. "Just… give it a few days, ok?"

"Fine, but if you turn up dead in a few days, don't come crying to me."

He can't help but laugh at that. She's got a way with the wit, his assassin. Wait… _his_? Oh, he has way too much on his plate to consider what that's all about.

"Fine, my death will solely be on my conscience."

She's so happy to see him but it's such a disappointment her crook isn't physically in the room. Wait… _hers_? No, there just isn't time to figure that one out right now.

Especially since he's starting to fade.

"Not yet," she whimpers.

"I'll be back. I still want to haunt Mick," he says, trying to get her to smile.

It barely works.

"I'm coming back to you, Sara. We just need to figure it out."

And with that, he's gone again. But this time, she's confident that he'll return… to her.


End file.
